Tam grad Brauner finding success on UCSB track team

When Tam High grad Hallie Brauner first attempted to walk on with the track team at UC Santa Barbara two years ago, she knew her times wouldn't automatically get her in the door.

But, despite being a relative newcomer to the sport having switched from basketball to focus more on track in her senior year at Tam, she knew she had the perseverance, desire and work ethic to make it as a collegiate track athlete. She just had to convince UCSB track coach Travis Anderson of that fact.

"It's kind of a cool story actually," Anderson said. "About two years ago I walked into the office and saw a tall, young lady. She was adamant about walking onto the team and working hard and being the best she could be. We asked her some basic questions to get her story and feel her out a little bit.

"She had a pretty good confidence with how she answered everything. She knew she could not only make the team but do well as well."

Brauner was in luck as Anderson was looking for a few more 400-meter hurdlers for his team.

"I went into the office, met the coach and made him talk to me face to face," Brauner said. "I said 'Let me run 400 hurdles for you. I don't have times right now and I can't promise you times but I'll work harder or as hard as anyone you have on your team.' I feel like if you have someone in front of you telling you that, it'd be hard to turn down."

Brauner was able to talk her way on to the team and this past season she had a breakout year culminating with her running a personal best to take fifth place at the Big West championships.

"It was really satisfying because I could finally say I do deserve to be here, I'm good enough to be here," Brauner said.

However, Brauner's success story was not an immediate one. An injury derailed her freshman year before track season even began.

"They thought I had a stress fracture because I came back after winter break and I started having pain in my right foot, right on the top of it, usually a sign of a stress fracture," Brauner said. "I was really bummed out. It was really disheartening."

Brauner actually had a lot of joint inflammation (synovitis) and had to spend a month in a walking boot. She consulted Anderson and the decision was made for her to redshirt her freshman year.

"Even after you get out of the boot, you still feel weak, you still feel that injury," Brauner said. "I still felt it. It's a balancing act. You have to push yourself hard enough that you're improving and building, but not so hard that you push yourself into injury."

An ankle injury sustained in high school was also holding Brauner back from her potential as a runner. While learning to hurdle as a sophomore at Tam, she was only able to clear the hurdles by leading with one leg. She wasn't ambidextrous and able to plant with either foot like the other hurdlers.

"I came in only being able to hurdle from one side because I'd fractured my ankle playing basketball," Brauner. "I only learned how to hurdle on one side."

Anderson knew he wanted Brauner to be able to plant off either foot and worked with her on her form to prepare her for her sophomore year (but freshman year of eligibility).

"I would just make her do it over and over," Anderson said. "The other girls could switch legs and move on in their drills. I never let Hallie move on until she did it correctly. I wouldn't let her graduate to more drills until she could get it at least somewhat right. We want them to be ambidextrous hurdlers. That's what we strive for."

Brauner made good on her promise to work hard during that offseason and it didn't take long for her to make an impression this past season. In the second race of the season, she finished the race in less than 63 seconds, exceeding the goal that Anderson had set for her for the season.

"You could tell that she had kind of worked on her technique," Anderson said. "She got a lot fitter, got a little bit more confident that second year. She got a lot stronger, too. I expected her to do well but not that well to be honest with you. She broke out early in the year with a real impressive time so I realized there might be something here."

Brauner shaved another second off her time during the Big West championships, scoring four points for the team to help it to a fifth-place finish. Anderson said he believes Brauner can improve even more this season, on the track and as a leader on the team.

"You can slowly start to see her mature into a leader and someone who is taking younger people under her wing," Anderson said. "It's definitely not easy coming into this program as a freshman. It can seem overwhelming at first but I think she'll be able to take people under her wing and become one of our leaders."

Brauner's high school coach, Tam's Kevin Engle, isn't surprised that she exceeded expectations at UCSB and has already found success there.

"Hallie is a great athlete, a great person," Engle said. "She works extremely hard. She's a great teammate and was willing to do whatever to help us. You couldn't ask for a better teammate and better person. It's not surprising that she did well."

While at Tam, Brauner helped the team win both the MCAL and North Coast Section Redwood Empire titles during her senior season in 2012. Although she had run the 300 hurdles for Tam her first two seasons with the team, she switched to the 800-meter race her senior year because the team had plenty of hurdlers and Engle needed someone to run the 800.

"Having her run the 800 was a big part of our success," Engle said.

For her part, Brauner credits Engle and his program at Tam for inspiring her love of track. Choosing between track and basketball — another sport she had aspirations playing for an NCAA Division I school — was a difficult decision.

"It was really hard," Brauner said. "I went back and forth on it so many times. I really felt like I was letting down my teammates. I kind of had to make a selfish choice and do what I really ended up loving. I still went to every single home game my senior year and that was probably the hardest part — watching them play without me. I so wanted to be out there."